Compact in-line breading machine

ABSTRACT

A machine is presented which includes a liquid-coating or battering unit associated with a dry-coating or breading unit, the units being useful separately or when combined as described. The battering unit includes a batter reservoir in which an open mesh wire belt under tension travels beneath a submerger wheel so as to gently nip the product and drag it below the surface of the batter. In the breading application unit, the loose breading material is stored in a hopper above which is a flat slider plate over which passes an open mesh wire conveyor belt in its product-advancing run. This belt then passes downwardly after discharging the coated product, to a lower point in the hopper where the belt is inclined upwardly toward the opposite end of the unit at the inlet end of the slider plate. This portion of the conveyor belt is the breading material elevating run and it travels close to an inclined bottom wall of the hopper. During the latter part of this run, the conveyor passes through a slot of limited dimensions which causes the conveyor belt to pump the breading material upwardly toward the product-advancing run where the dry material is pumped up from the elevating run to the product-advancing run through the wire mesh of the belt. In three embodiments a V-shape splitter then splits the upper portion of the breading material flow while providing a bed of this material of predetermined thickness on a central product path while diverting parts of the breading material flow laterally to both sides of the central path portion. The liquid-coated food product is placed on the central path portion downstream from the splitter and, as the product advances along the run above the flat slider plate two side plows, one each side of the product path, converge the breading material on each side of the path toward the center over the traveling product. In a first embodiment, the battering unit is placed directly above the breading unit with reverse flow in the two units. In a second and third embodiment, the battering unit is placed ahead of, and generally nearly in horizontal alignment with the product-advancing run of the breading application unit. Preferably, a tamper plate is provided to bear down on the breading material above the product to flatten out the breading material on top of and around the food product. A take-away conveyor may be used for discharging the coated product outside of the machine, in the first and second embodiments, while the third embodiment does not require this conveyor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending applicationSer. No. 459,567, filed Apr. 10, 1974 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,116.

There has long been a need in the field of commissaries, largerestaurants, industrial and institutional kitchens, food specialtyproducers and pilot production plants for a small machine to batter andbread food items. Desirable features of such a small machine are: (1) Amoderate amount of automation to save hand labor and to produce uniformresults; (2) compact construction for use in kitchen areas rather thanin plant production areas; (3) relatively low production capacitycompared with available production machines; (4) simplicity of operationand maintenance; (5) versatility to handle many types of coatingmaterials and many types of food products; utilizing sanitaryconstruction materials and providing ease of clean-up. The presentinvention provides such a small, compact machine.

Among the objects of the present invention are included -- (a) a liquidcoating unit including a reservoir for the coating material, a submergerwheel having its lower periphery passing into the batter in thereservoir, a product carrying flexible wire mesh belt, tensioned by acounterweight and carrying the product beneath the submerger wheel andthen up out of the batter where excess coating material is blown off,after which the product is passed to a breading unit; (b) to provide ina breading unit a single layer of dry breading material which iscontrolled so as to form both a receiving bread layer for the productand, in most forms a top cover for the product; (c) to maintain drybreading material levels for a period of time by means of a built-inhopper; (d) to pump the dry coating material from the hopper through aslot which provides sufficient pressure to force the dry materialupwardly through an open wire mesh conveyor belt to the breading run;(e) to treat the dry coated product in a manner to remove most of theexcess dry coating material; (f) to transfer the coated product out ofthe breading machine; and (g) to return the excess dry breading materialback to the hopper.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and description and the essential features will besummarized in the claims.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the liquid-coating unit removablysupported above the dry-coating unit in a preferred form of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view taken from the right-hand end of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of one of two parallel verticalconveyor support plates positioned on opposite sides of the flexiblewire mesh conveyor belt of the breading unit;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are respectively top plan and side elevational views of atamper plate seen in broken lines at the upper mid-portion of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are respectively top plan and side elevational views ofthe splitter seen at the left end of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are respectively top plan and side elevational views ofthe conveyor belt frame used in the liquid-coating unit;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are respectively side elevational and top plan views ofthe batter reservoir of the liquid-coating unit;

FIGS. 13 and 14 are respectively side elevational and end views of thebatter tank supports which hold the batter reservoir in position abovethe breading-coating unit;

FIG. 15 is an end view of a conveyor frame comprising two of the supportplates shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of the open mesh flexible wire beltdescribed herein;

FIGS. 17 and 18 are respectively end and side elevational view of thebelt reverser members;

FIG. 19 is a small perspective view showing the side frame supportmembers 60 and attached parts tilted around pivots 62 for cleaning andinspection;

FIG. 20 is a side elevational view of a second embodiment of theinvention showing the batter-coating unit removably supported at thein-feed end of the breading material coating unit;

FIG. 21 is a top plan view of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is an end view of the same taken from the right-hand side ofFIG. 20;

FIG. 23 is a side elevational view of a third embodiment of theinvention showing the liquid-coating unit removably supported at thein-feed end of a modified dry breading material coating unit;

FIG. 24 is a top plan view of FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is an end view of the same taken from the right-hand side ofFIG. 23;

FIG. 26 is a side elevational view of an alternate form of verticalconveyor support plates positioned on either side of the flexible wiremesh conveyor belt of the breading unit;

FIG. 27 is a side elevational view of the batter-coating unit conveyorframe extension used in the second and third embodiments of theinvention

FIG. 28 is a top plan view of FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a side elevational view of an extension frame for the drybreading material conveyor belt for the third embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 30 is a top plan view of FIG. 29;

FIG. 31 is a perspective view of the breading blowoff housing as used inthe third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 32 is a perspective view of the in-feed bracket used to support thebatter-coating unit in the second and third embodiments of theinvention;

FIG. 33 is a side elevational diagrammatic view showing the product paththrough the preferred form of the invention as illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 34 is a side elevational diagrammatic view showing the product paththrough the second embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIG.20; while

FIG. 35 is a side elevational diagrammatic view showing the product paththrough the third embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIG. 23.

A preferred form of the open mesh flexible wire conveyor belt used inthis invention, and shown in FIG. 16, is one made under the trade name"Flat-Flex" by the Wire Belt Company of America. Other similar conveyorbelts may be suitable for use in this invention.

The conveyor belts shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 are omitted fromFIGS. 2 and 3 for clarity.

Describing the first embodiment and referring to FIG. 1, the open meshwire conveyor belt 20 is supported on a conveyor frame as shown in FIGS.9 and 10 which in turn is supported in the batter reservoir 21 shown ingreater detail in FIGS. 11 and 12. The drawings indicate that the belt20 extends substantially from side to side of the reservoir when theconveyor is in its operating position.

The belt 20 is endless and passes over a pulley-equivalent or cross rod22 at the product-inlet end of the liquid-coating unit, then beneath asubmerger wheel 23, then over a cross rod 24, then over a drive pulley25, then inwardly and downwardly over the curving plate 26 of the batterreservoir and beneath a counterweight 27 which is suspended byoscillatable arms 28 from pivot points 29 secured to the conveyor frameand the return rod of the conveyor then passes beneath cross rods 30 and31 back to the first named pulley equivalent or cross rod 22. The crossrods 22, 24, 30 and 31, are fixed in conveyor side walls 32. The drivepulley 25 is rotatably supported in the conveyor side walls 32.

The submerger wheel 23 comprises two flat end disks 23a rigidly securedin spaced relation to a central shaft 33 and encased in a cylindricalcovering of open mesh material, preferably the Flat-Flex open meshmaterial used in the conveyor belt 20. The shaft 33 is rotatably mountedin a pair of bearings 34 mounted respectively at 34a on the side framemembers 32.

The batter tank or reservoir 21 is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 11 and 12. Itcomprises a flat bottom 21a, parallel side walls 21b, a curved end wall26 and an inclined end wall 21d. Each side wall has an outwardly turnedflange 21e on which rests the conveyor frame members 32.

The batter tank is filled with the liquid batter coating to a desirablelevel indicated by the dot-dash line 35 in FIG. 1. The lower portion ofthe submerger wheel extends preferably about 1/2 inch below the level ofline 35. It will be obvious that as the food product moves through theliquid batter, batter is continuously removed as a coating on theproduct. To reduce the frequency of manually replenishing the battersupply, a jug of batter indicated at 36 is provided with a downwardlyturned neck 36a which is held at the level of line 35 while a curvedtube 36b which communicates at one end with tank 21 and carries at itsother end a bowl 37 in which the jug 36 may rest. Thus, as the level ofbatter in the tank 21 falls, the jug replenishes the liquid as necessaryto maintain it to the level of the line 35.

It will be seen from the above description that the liquid coating belt20 starts at cross member 22 above the level of the batter material intank 21, then passes under the submerger wheel 23, and then returns tothe original level at cross member 24. Due to the tension caused bycounterweight 27, the top run of belt 20 will always be as close to thebatter surface as permitted by the submerger wheel and any productcarried under it. Thus, as soon as food product clears the submergerwheel, belt tension returns the belt to a minimum slope out of theliquid batter material, decreasing the possibility of product slip backdown the slope. The tension caused by the counterweight 27 insures apositive nipping action between the belt and the wheel, to actually dragthe food product under the liquid batter surface even against anyflotation force.

As the top run of the liquid coating belt rises out of the liquid batterafter passing beneath the submerger wheel, it passes under a slotteddischarge of a small air blower 38, the slot being shown at 39, formedby the sloping walls 39a and extending transversely to the direction oftravel of belt 20. The air blower is supported at 38a on the conveyorframe 32. Thus, a downwardly directed air curtain sweeps the excessliquid batter off the top of the product. Sweeping is assisted on mostproducts by the fact that the product is on a sloping belt. The blower38 is adjustable in height and in air volume. At the top of the slope,the belt 20 passes over the horizontal cross rod 24 and since this roddoes not rotate, any liquid batter drops here for return to the liquidbatter pool.

It should be noted that the structure described causes continuousagitation of the liquid batter in the reservoir or tank 21. The returnrun of conveyor belt 20 passes from the drive pulley 25 over the curvedend wall 26, close to the wall, and then from counterweight 27 ittravels close to the bottom wall 21a under cross rods 30 and 31 and thenup the sloping wall 21d back to the cross rod 22. This gives acontinuous wiping effect of the belt conveyor 20 on the bottom and endwalls of the tank 21, and the continuous motion of the belt through theliquid has a stirring and turnover effect for continuous mixing. Also,the submerger wheel 23 is rotated by the passage of the product under iton belt 20 and this gives further agitation to the liquid batter.

It will be noted from this description that the liquid-coating unitmight be used to coat a food product with batter whether or not it werecombined with the dry-coating unit which will next be described.

The dry coating unit is best understood from FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. A stand40 supports a base plate 41, on which rests all parts of the breadingmachine unit now to be described. Briefly, this structure includes abreading material storage hopper 42 having an inclined bottom 43 betweentwo parallel vertical side walls 42a, a short end wall 44 and a partialtop wall comprising a slider plate 45 which is generally flat andhorizontal. A continuous open mesh wire conveyor belt 46 has a breadingmaterial elevating run traveling upwardly toward the left as viewed inFIG. 1 close to the inclined bottom wall 43, then passing over an idlerpulley equivalent 47, then horizontally in a product-advancing runhorizontal and close to the slider plate 45, then over drive pulley 48and then downwardly on a transfer run around belr reverser 69 and overan idler pulley equivalent 49, near the product-take-away point, andthen turning upwardly on the elevating run again.

One of the novel features of this invention is the "pumping" slotindicated at 50. This slot is enclosed by a roof 51 which is spacedabove and parallel to the slanting bottom wall 43, and has as side wallsthe two side walls of the hopper 42. The opposite ends of the slot areopen and the roof 51 is connected by side walls 51a to the slider plate45 as seen in FIG. 4 and the right-hand end of the plates 51 and 51a, asseen in FIGS. 1 and 4, is closed by a plate 51b. The height of the slot50 is preferably approximately one and one-half times the maximumthickness of breading material desired on the product receiving portionof the conveyor belt above the slider plate 45. Preferably also, meansis provided for adjusting the effective height of the slot which in thedrawings includes a rectangular plate 52, seen in FIG. 1, which isadjustably held by one or more screw connections 53. The suitable heightand length of slot 50 will be discussed later.

The means for driving the belt 46 comprises an electrical motor 54mounted on the base plate 41 and having a drive sprocket 55 which isconnected by drive chain 56 with the drive sprocket 48d on stub shaft48e. Take-up idlers 57 on spring loaded oscillatable arms 58 permit themain drive chain 56 to slip on the motor sprocket 55. In this particularinstallation, the motor sprocket teeth are cut down below the pitchdiameter and in normal operation will drive the drive sprocket 48d.However, if excess load is introduced onto the main breader belt 46,such as a jam of some sort, the chain jumps the motor sprocket until theload is relieved. In normal operation, the idlers 57 take up slack inthe drive chain 56. The motor 54 is reversible for a purpose which willappear later.

The level of the breading material in the hopper 42 is normally abovethe entrance to the slot 50. The belt conveyor 46 traveling upwardlythrough the slot pumps the breading material upwardly to the pulleyequivalent 47. The spacing between the periphery of this pulley and thehopper walls 43 and 44 is approximately the thickness of belt conveyor46. The movement of belt 46 piles up the breading material against thepulley equivalent 47 and forces it upwardly through a breading entranceat 46a which is between the pulley equivalent 47 and the upstream end45a of the slider plate. The breading material at this point wells upthrough the mesh belt at 46a to a predetermined height as will presentlyappear.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 and 15, much of the operating structure of thebreading machine is supported by a frame clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and15. This includes as a unitary structure two parallel vertical conveyorsupport plates 60 which extend the full length of the product-advancingrun of the belt conveyor 46. As clearly seen in FIG. 15, these supportplates are connected rigidly by the slider plate 45, by a short verticalwall 61, by a short vertical wall at 45a and by the wall 51b. Theopenings 53a in the plate 51b are to receive the adjustment screws 53which hold the slot height adjustment plate 52. Between the two supportplates 60 are mounted the upstream pulley equivalent at the location47a, the downstream drive pulley at the location 48a and a third pulleyequivalent 49 at the location 49a. The support plates have parallelvertical downwardly extending ears 60a at the right-hand end thereof asseen in FIGS. 1 and 4 and these ears extend down to support the crossrod or pulley equivalent 49. Pivot pins 62a concentric with the pulleyequivalent 49 oscillatably support the two ears 60 in the side walls ofhopper 42, whereby the unitary structure thus disclosed may oscillateabout the pivot pins for inspection and cleaning of the machine. Theadditional breading material control members are mounted along the upperedge of the two vertical conveyor support plates 60 as described in thenext paragraph.

Means is provided for splitting the upper portion of the flow ofbreading material which is pushed upwardly through the breading entrancein the upstream space at 46a. This means is a V-shape, bent bar splitter63, best seen in FIGS. 2, 7 and 8. This structure diverges from a nose63a which is welded to two support rods 64 which are rigidly securedcrosswise between the support plates 60. The splitter has paralleltrailing legs 63b trailing in the direction of product travel from therespective ends of the V-shape member 63. The trailing legs of thesplitter encompass a product travel path along the belt conveyor 46which is wide enough to encompass the product intended to be coated andwhich is approximately half as long as the longest product intended tobe coated. It will be noted in FIG. 8 that the lower edge of thesplitter is planar and at the level of the desired thickness of breadingmaterial beneath the product on the product-advancing run of theconveyor belt 46.

It has been mentioned previously that the dry breading material wells upat 46a across the entire width of the conveyor belt 46. The splitter isin the central portion only of this path and diverts breading materiallaterally to each side above the level of the lower edge of thesplitter. Means is provided for moving substantially all of the breadingmaterial on both sides of the product path including the materiallaterally diverted by the splitter 63, laterally inward from both sidesonto the top of the product traveling along the conveyor belt 46. Thismeans comprises two side plows 65, best seen in FIG. 2. One of these ison either side of the product path and each side plow has a convergingportion extending from approximately a lateral edge of the slider plate45 downstream and inwardly to approximately a colinear position with oneof the splitter trailing legs 63b, and there is provided a trailerportion 65a extending downstream from the end of each plow parallel tothe product path down to the product-discharge end of the slider plate45b. Each trailer portion 65a is rigidly supported from a support member60 by a stub tube 68. Each of these plows has a height extending fromslightly above the slider plate 45 to a level above the breadingmaterial to be spread laterally inwardly over the food product and whichis carried by the belt conveyor on the product-advancing run and betweenthe side plow trailer portions.

The trailing legs 63b of the splitter are approximately one-half of thelength of the longest product intended to be coated but may vary fromtwenty percent to thirty percent with various designs of the machine.The ends of the splitter trailing legs 63b are approximately in the samecross sectional plane where the side plows 65 start to leave the sidesof the main conveyor frame 60. Side plow trailing legs are long enoughto provide a predetermined product dwell time in breading at thepredetermined belt speed. In one embodiment, the dwell time isapproximately 6 seconds at a belt conveyor speed of 15 feet per minute.

To insure full coverage of the food product, preferably a tamper plate66, best seen in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, is floated on top of the dry breadingmaterial in the product path. This plate is pivoted horizontally on itsupstream edge so that it is free to follow any fluctuations in the drybreading material thickness. It is nominally as wide as the productpath, with clearance so that it will freely float between the side plowtrailer portions 65a. It is long enough to reach the trailing edge ofthe slider plate 45 at 45b. Its side elevation as seen in FIGS. 1 and 6is such that the main pressure line on the dry breading material isusually less than about one-half its length from its pivot. The plate ishere shown as pivoted on two hooks 66a which are rigidly secured to theupstream edge of the plate 66. As shown in FIG. 6, the major portion ofthe plate 66 is concave upwardly so that it floats smoothly on thebreading material. The hooks 66a hang on a cross bar 70, seen in FIGS.1, 13 and 14, and which will be described later.

In the case of some flour coatings, which tend to bridge over theopenings in the wire mesh conveyor 46, simple vibrators actuated by thepassage of the conveyor belt 46 assist in its removal of excess drybreading material. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, two long flat vibratorblades 67 are provided, each with an integral bent portion on the upperend at 67a, which is hooked over cross bar 70. Each blade passes under astub tube 68. This supports the vibrator blades in the inclined positionshown in FIG. 1. The triangular block 67b rigidly fastened to the lowerend of the blade 67 engages the cross wires of the conveyor belt 46 asthey pass, and resultant vibration shakes the excess dry breadingmaterial through the belt 46 at breading exit 46b. Vibration effect maybe increased or decreased by varying the shape of the blades beforeinserting them in the machine.

After passing over the drive pulley 48, the endless conveyor belt 46turns downwardly approximately 120° over the drive pulley shaft, in thetransfer run 46c. The belt then bends approximately 120° around a beltreverser shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, which, in this case, comprises threehalf-moon shape members 69 which are rigidly pinned to a rod 71 which isfirmly held by bolts 72 at each end to the parallel side walls of theconveyor support members 60. The bolts 72 are horizontally adjustable inslots 72a. The belt 46 then has a short horizontal run 46d over to thepulley equivalent 49 where a 195° turn brings the belt conveyor 46 backto the breading material elevating run along the bottom of the breadhopper 42.

The material dropping through the conveyor belt 46 at the breadingmaterial exit 46b drops downwardly into the breading material hopper 42.To spread this material fairly evenly over the elevating run of theconveyor belt 46, there is provided a plate inclined downwardly andinwardly as shown in FIG. 1 at 73. This is secured to the conveyorsupport members 60 by a pair of flanges 73a. In the center of the plate73 there is rigidly secured an inverted V-shape roof 73b, seen in FIGS.1 and 3, and the result of this structure is to cause the materialdropping at 46b to be spread rather evenly across the elevating run ofbelt 46.

When the coated product reaches the drive pulley 48 it falls downwardlyto a take-away point 75 indicated in FIG. 1, which is just above thepulley equivalent 49. This fall should be sufficient to permit the foodproduct to flip over so that any excess material which is on the top ofthe product is dropped off. In the embodiment shown in the drawings,this distance is approximately six inches. At the take-away point, theproduct falls on a take-away conveyor 76 which comprises two parallelvertical side frame members 76a which are rigidly connected together bya flat slider bottom 76b which is fixed to the lower edges of the twoside frame members 76a. The side frame members 76a at their outer endsrotatably support a drive pulley 77, whose shaft 77a is rotatablymounted in the side frame members. At their inner ends, the side framemembers support a pulley equivalent 78 which serves as an idler for theendless open mesh wire conveyor belt 79 which passes over drive pulley77 and the pulley equivalent idler 78. At the take-away point 75, ashallow tray 80 may be provided if desired. This tray catches loosebreading material falling down the pulley 48 and from the food productfalling downwardly therefrom and provides a relatively thin layer of drybreading material under the belt 79. Thus, when the food product fallsonto the belt conveyor 79, it is cushioned by this layer of breadingmaterial and "printing" of the wire belt in the dry coating of theproduct is minimized. The tray 80 is below the upper run of belt 79 andabove the return side of the belt which travels close to the sliderbottom 76b. All dry breading material falling through the conveyor belt79 is carried by the return run of the belt conveyor along the sliderbottom 76b to the point 81 where it falls through the short horizontalrun 46d shown in FIG. 1 of the conveyor belt of the breading machine andis thereafter carried into the hopper 42 and up the elevating run of theconveyor belt 46. If desired, one or more triangular shaped buttons 82may be secured to the tray 80 in position to project above the top layerof the belt 79 and afford a small amount of vibration to assist flourtype breading material in falling through the conveyor belt 79. Thefinished breaded product drops off the drive pulley 77 and is carriedaway for further processing.

For purposes of cleaning and inspection, the endless conveyor belt 46,its side frame support members 60, the drive pulley 48 and pulleyequivalents 47 and 49, and all parts supported along the upper edges ofthe side frame support members 60 are preferably mounted so as to openupwardly about a pivot point 62 concentric with the pulley equivalent49, when the batter coating unit is removed from the position shown inFIGS. 1 through 3. Such a rotated position of these parts is shown inFIG. 19 and this leaves exposed for cleaning the inclined bottom wall 43of the hopper 42, and all of its side walls. The pivot connections forthe ear portions 60a comprise frusto-conical members 62a clearly seen inFIGS. 4 and 15 which fit snugly with complementary members 62 fixed inthe side walls of the hopper 42.

The inclined angle of the slider plate 45 in such open position, in thisembodiment, is about 30° short of the vertical.

The drive motor 54 has previously been mentioned as being a reversibleelectrical motor which drives the motor sprocket 55 as clearly seen inFIG. 1. A drive belt 83 runs vertical upwardly from a drive pulley 55aon the motor shaft and passes around the drive pulley 25b mounted on thestub shaft 25c of the liquid battering unit as shown. Another drive belt84 runs horizontally from a suitable drive pulley on the motor shaft toa drive pulley on stub shaft 77e to run the take-away conveyor 76.

It should now be noted that the dry breading material coating belt 46may be reversed so as to empty the breading hopper 42 at the end of aday's run. During such an operation, the normally product-advancing runof conveyor belt 46 moves nearly all of the breading material on plate45 back to the area 46a where it falls through the belt onto theelevating run, which at this time is reversed and carries the materialdownwardly along the inclined bottom 43 and out of the hopper 42 beneathand over the pulley equivalent 49 as shown in FIG. 1. In the embodimentsshown in the drawings, only about 30 cubic inches of dry breadingmaterial remain in the bread tank after this self-emptying operation.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 13 and 14, in the use of the combined liquidcoating and dry coating units as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the liquidcoating unit is held by similar structures at opposite ends of thebetter reservoir tank 21. Each of these units comprises a pair ofparallel vertical rigid struts 85 rigidly bolted or otherwise fastenedto the side conveyor frame members 60 and connected across the topsthereof by the rods 70 previously mentioned. Pins 86 on the rods 70 fitrelatively snugly on opposite sides of the batter reservoir 21 to holdit firmly in position. The rods 70 engage against pins 87 which extendoutwardly from the front and rear end walls of the batter reservoir 21as clearly seen in FIG. 1. It should be noted that at each drive shaft25, 48 and 77a a stub shaft is used with an axially centered squaresocket, into which are plugged the square shouldered drive shafts foreach of the conveyors.

To disconnect the batter coating unit so as to remove it from theposition above the dry bread coating unit, it is only necessary to tiltthe reservoir 21, containing the conveyor 32, free of the pins 86 incross bars 70, and pull the axially centered square shouldered driveshaft 25 out of the axially centered square socket in the stub shaft at25a, after which the batter coating unit can be lifted away.

To disconnect the take-away conveyor 76 so as to remove it from the drycoating unit, it is only necessary to rotate the take-away conveyor 76upwardly about 90 degrees around shaft 77a, then lift the free end 77bof shaft 77a out of saddle bearing 77c, and then to pull the axiallycentered square shouldered drive end of shaft 77a out of the axiallycentered square socket at 77d, after which the take-away unit can belifted away.

To disconnect the drive mechanism for belt 46, it is only necessary topull knob 48b in the direction away from the back cover of the machine,which will pull the axially centered socket of the stub shaft 48e off ofthe axially centered square shoulder at the shaft 48 at 48c. The entireconveyor belt 46, its side frame support 60, the drive pulley 48 andpulley equivalents 47 and 49 may now be opened upwardly about a pivotpoint 62 as previously described.

It should now be clearly understood that the operation of the completeapparatus of this embodiment is. With the upper unit filled with batterto the level 35 and with the breading material hopper 42 filled withbreading material beyond the point 52 at the entrance to slot 50, themotor 54 is actuated until breading material is spread along the sliderplate 45 controlled by the splitter 63 and the side plows 65 as abovedescribed. Pieces of food product to be coated are then placed on theconveyor belt 20 inside of the batter reservoir 21 and the conveyor beltwill then carry the food product to beneath the submerger wheel 23 andthe air discharge slot 39 to fall over the pulley 25 onto the breadinglayer beneath the splitter 63. This fall is sufficient to cause theproduct to imprint itself somewhat into the uniform layer of breadingmaterial into which it falls. Then, as the product travels the pathcarried by the conveyor belt 46, the side plows 65 will spread theexcess breading material laterally inwardly in both directions over thetop of the product where the material will be flattened down and pressedinto the product by the tamper plate 66. Then the excess breadingmaterial will fall through the conveyor belt at 46b, after which theproduct falls over the drive pulley 48 downwardly to the take-awayconveyor 76 which carries it over the drive pulley 77 as a finishedbreaded product.

The liquid-batter coating unit will apply coatings varying from waterthin to the thickness of heavy cream. The dry bread coating section willhandle and apply finely divided dry materials including free flowing,granular and flour types, usually called "breading" by the trade. Withslight modification, it will also handle granulated crystallized sugar,and other dry coatings.

Parts which may be coated by the described apparatus include fishportions and sticks and many fillets, most shrimp, cut-up chicken parts,meat patties, pork chops, veal cutlets, as well as such as oysters,clams, scallops, doughnuts and other bakery items, etc.

The path shown in the drawings of this embodiment might be variedwithout effectively changing any of the machine functions. For instance,as shown in the second and third embodiments, the battering unit couldbe reversed around the drive pulley 25 so that the product advanced fromleft to right as seen in FIG. 1 through the battering unit, thencefalling downward or passing smoothly to the breading unit and continuingin the same straight line to the finish. Other rearrangements of theunits are possible by those skilled in this art.

The size of the machine shown is not critical. The product path may benarrower or wider. The machine may be longer or shorter, faster orslower. The dry breading material elevating slope may be steeper orshallower. The parallel wire spacing of the Flat-Flex type of belt maybe changed to suit the food product and the dry material being used.Flip distance may be increased or decreased or eliminated. Dimensions ofthe slot 50 may be varied considerably when other factors are alsochanged, or when induced results are acceptable.

As mentioned above, the height of the pumping slot 50 is preferablyapproximately one and one-half times as great as the maximum thicknessof breading material desired on the product receiving portion of theconveyor belt above the slider plate 45. Obviously there will be someslippage in the breading material during pumping, so that the multiplierto obtain pump slot height must be greater than one. The figure of oneand one-half is adequate for the described machine and is somewhatarbitrary. The length of the slot required to pump the desired amount ofbreading, once the slot height has been fixed, will vary according tothe combination of several other factors. They are: the slope of thebottom wall 43 of hopper 42, the height of the end wall 45a at the inletend of slider plate 45, the material and surface finish of the undersideof slot roof plate 51, the spacing and diameter of the cross wires ofthe bread conveyor belt 46, and the constitution of the breadingmaterial itself. For each combination of the above, a slightly differentslot length would be required. However, in constructing a simple machineas described, a variable slot length would be too costly. Therefore, theslot length is fixed at a length long enough to adequately pump mostbreading materials, which is ten inches in the machine described. Againobviously, this fixed length will be too long for some breadingmaterials which pump easily due to their constitution of particles. Inthese cases, the slot as described will pump considerably more breadingthan is necessary or can be utilized on top of slider plate 45. The slotadjustment plate 52 provides a means for adjusting slot length byapparently adjusting slot height. When the slot adjustment plate 52 islowered to reduce the opening at the inlet end of the slot, it restrictsthe amount of breading material entering the slot, and the upper surfaceof the bread layer does not touch the slot roof 51. If this conditionremained throughout the slot length, there would be little pumpingpressure at the outlet end of the slot to force breading upwardlythrough the belt 46 at 46a. However, the breading material then slipsinternally, backing up into the slot and filling the slot height. As thefilling process continues down the slot length toward the inlet end ofthe slot, an increasing amount of breading is forced upward through thebelt at 46a, until a steady state condition is reached, wherein theamount of breading being moved by the belt onto the slide plate 45equals the amount entering the slot at 52. The slot length now in use issomewhat less than the original fixed length. This action could be seenthrough the transparent wall of a pilot model. In effect, the slotlength has been shortened by reducing the slot height. When the use of aparticular breading material is desired that will not pump adequatelythrough the described slot, the slot length may be temporarilylengthened by bolting on a suitable slot extension plate, utilizing thebolt positions 53a.

The machine described will accept a regular or intermittent flow of foodproducts at the inlet to the liquid batter coating section and will thencompletely liquid coat the product; remove excess liquid from mostsurfaces thereof; transfer the product to a dry breading coatingsection; completely coat the product with the dry breading material;tamp the dry material on the product; remove excess dry material fromall parts of the product; and deliver the product to another conveyancefor further action.

The machine described will continuously sift out large chunks of drybreading material which have been matted by contact with battermaterial.

It will have been noted that the machine dismantles for cleaning withouttools. Removable parts are light enough to pose no lifting problems toanyone, and small enough to wash in a sink. The main breading hopper 42and the dry coating conveyor 46 remain attached together with one end ofthe conveyor pivoted up to a safe stable point as shown in FIG. 19. Thispart could be washed on a counter so that the water drains into a sink,or if on a movable cart, could be washed in a large equipment washroom.High pressure hoses will not damage any components of the machine.

When compared to the smallest commercial machines presently available,the machine presented herewith utilizes about one-third of the conveyorbelt area per minute, or about one-half the total conveyor belt length,and thus the capacity of the machine is about one-third to one-half thatof the next smallest machine of comparable versatility.

This first embodiment described herein is only 17 inches wide by 43inches long by 18 inches high, and weighs about 120 pounds complete.This may be compared with production type machines up to 5 feet wide by15 feet long by 8 feet high and weighing 1800 pounds.

The machine presented herewith has very few adjustment points toregulate, and poor regulation is not usually a serious factor in use ofthe machine. Wear points are not critical and are easily replaced,rather than having to be adjusted. All replacement conveyor belts can beendless when received from the factory, so that special training is notnecessary to lace them together. The machine dismantles for cleaningwithout the use of tools, and all surfaces are accessible for scrubbing.When open for cleaning, all belts are free wheeling for ease ofcleaning, because the axial square socket connections and stub shafts onall of the driving pulleys permit all product driving pulleys to bedisconnected from the power source.

The splitter and side plows might be eliminated for some products. Thetamper plate is not always necessary, or could be replaced by a pressureroll or a spreader blade. The bread return deflector might be eliminatedbut this would require more frequent filling of the breading materialhopper. The submerger wheel could be substituted by passing the conveyor22 under a submerging bar.

As has been noted above, the product path shown in the drawings of thepreferred first embodiment might be varied considerably withouteffectively changing the basic machine functions. In fact, some productsrequire a different path due to adverse effects incurred if run throughthe preferred first embodiment. For istance, butterfly shrimp and perchhave a tendency to close up when dropped from a high batter machine to alow breading layer as illustrated in FIG. 33, therefore they should betransferred with little or no drop. But once they are breaded, adropping flip to remove excess breading is usually acceptable procedure.They can, therefore, be run on the second embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 20, 21, 22 and 34. In another instance, long fresh fish filletsmay be so limp that they tend to fold crosswise when dropped anydistance, even when breaded. Therefore, they must be gently transferredthroughout the machine. Since no flips are acceptable, a blower must beused to remove excess breading on top of the product which in turnrequires additional breading conveyor length. This is illustrated in thethird embodiment, as in FIGS. 23, 24, 25 and 35. The machine is designedso that any of the three embodiments can be converted to another withthe addition of proper parts, and with no cutting, drilling or weldingprocedures necessary.

In discussing the second and third embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 20through 35, parts which are the same as shown and described in the firstembodiment have been given the same reference characters, sometimes witha "prime", and are further described only when necessary for a clearunderstanding.

The chief change between FIG. 1 and FIG. 20 is that the liquid coatingunit of FIG. 1 has been turned end for end in FIG. 20 with the dischargeover drive pulley 25 nearer the level of conveyor run 46. New unit 95(FIG. 32) supports the liquid coating unit, and unit 89 (FIGS. 27, 28)supports a short extension of conveyor belt 20.

In the drawings, FIGS. 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 32 illustrate the partsadditions necessary to convert from the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1to the second embodiment in FIG. 20. FIGS. 27 and 28 show the batterconveyor extension 89 which consists of a bottom wall 89b and twoparallel side walls 89a. Rigidly mounted between the side walls 89a is across rod 90, which serves as a pulley equivalent. One hole 25d with twosatellite bearing bolt holes is punched in each side panel 89a. Theconveyor extension 89 is bolted onto the conveyor frame 32' so thatdrive pulley shaft 25 passese through holes 25d in side walls 89a.Addition of a short length of wire mesh conveyoro belt to 20 providessufficient length for the belt section 20a in FIG. 20 to extend frompulley 25 around cross rod 90 and back vie 20b to the underside of 25.The mounting holes in 89a are located so that the cross rod 90 isreasonably close to the breading layer carried by conveyor belt 46 onslider plate 45, thus insuring a gentle transfer of product fromconveyor belt 20 to conveyor belt 46. The side walls 89a are enclosed onthe outside by splitter plow trailing legs 63b. The bottom wall 89b ofconveyor extension 89 serves the functions of keeping breading out ofthe path of batter belt 20, and retaining drip from the belt. The batterbelt section 20 b continually wipes the top side of bottom wall 89b,thus returning any drip to the batter tank 21.

FIG. 32 shows the in-feed bracket 95, which consists of two side panels95a separated by and rigidly connected by three cross rods 97a, 97b,97c, so that the space between side panels is slightly more than thewidth of batter reservoir 21. The cutout 95b in one side wall 95aprovides clearance for the batter jug support 36b on batter reservoir21. The inverted channels 95c rigidly attached to each side panel 95aserve the two functions of: hooks to hang the bracket on the breadingunit, and spacers to locate the batter coating unit substantially on thecenter line of the breading unit.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 20, the batter reservoir 21 is supportedby the in-feed bracket 95. The bracket 95 is mounted on the breadingunit by hooking the inverted channels 95c over the back wall of thebread hopper at 44. The lower ends of the side plates 95a rest againstthe back of the machine and serve to support the bracket 95. The batterreservoir pins 87 at the inlet end of the reservoir 21 hook over crossrod 97c of infeed bracket 95, and the bottom wall 21a of reservoir 21rests on cross rod 97b of bracket 95. Note in FIG. 20 the location 48fin the far hopper side wall 42a. This is the location used for thebreading conveyor drive stub shaft 48e in the embodiment of FIGS. 23 and24. It is covered by a seal plate in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2,or 20 and 21. Note also in FIG. 20 the location 25e in the drive tower99. This is the location used for the batter drive socket stub shaft 25cin the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. It is covered with a seal plate 99ain the embodiments of FIGS. 20 and 21 or 23 and 24. Similarly, thelocation 25f for the socket stub shaft 25c in the embodiment of FIGS. 20and 21, or 23 and 24, is covered by the seal plate 99a in the embodimentof FIGS. 1 and 2.

The shaft of drive pulley 25 is FIG. 20 has been reversed end for endfrom FIG. 1 in conveyor frame 32, and is driven at the new location 25fby stub shaft 25c. Drive belt 83 as shown in FIG. 20 does not have thebelt crossed as shown in FIG. 1.

In the drawings, FIGS. 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 illustrate theparts additions necessary to convert from the preferred embodiment ofFIG. 1 to the third embodiment in FIG. 23. Not shown in FIG. 23, 24, 25,are 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82. These are the assembly parts for thetake-away conveyor used in FIG. 1 and FIG. 20 and are not used in theembodiment of FIG. 23.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 23, 24, 25, the arrangement of the batterunit is the same as in FIGS. 20, 21, 22. However, the breading unit isconsiderably modified in order to provide the straight-line discharge ofthe food product as illustrated in FIG. 35. FIGS. 29 and 30 show thebread conveyor extension frame 88. This consists of two side walls 88a,a sloping bottom wall 88b secured between them and a discharge chute88c. Each side wall 88a has a punched shaft hole 48aa with satellitebearing bolt holes, which is the new position of drive pulley 48 in thisembodiment. In addition, two holes 88d are furnished (FIG. 29) whichmatch holes 88d in breading conveyor side panel 60' of FIG. 26. Theseholes may also be furnished in conveyor side panel 60 shown in FIG. 4.Four bolts through holes 88d in side panel 60' and extension side wall88a serve to rigidly fasten bread conveyor extension frame 88 to breadconveyor side panels 60', so that one side wall 88a is outside of eachside panel 60'. The discharge chute 88c now extends downwardly betweenside panels 60', to direct breading behind the shaft equivalent 49 andthrough belt section 46d, where it is returned to circulation.

As may be seen in FIG. 23, the flexible wire mesh breading belt 46 hasbeen extended sufficiently to encompass the drive pulley 48 at its newlocation 48aa. Belt section 46c runs in close proximity to the topsurface of the bottom wall 88b of the breading conveyor extension 88,thus serving to return excess bread to the chute 88c.

Excess breading on the top of the product as it moves on belt 46b towarddrive pulley 48 must be removed without scraping or damaging the foodproduct. This may be accomplished by blowing low pressure air downwardfrom a point above the product. As shown in FIG. 31, a blower housing 92may consist of a top wall 92b, two parallel side walls 92a and twoparallel end walls 92c. The bottom of each side wall 92a is turnedoutwardly to form a flange 92e parallel to top wall 92b, and the edge isthen turned downward to form a flange skirt 92d. One end wall isequipped with a thin and moderately stiff plastic curtain 96, to retainmost blown-off breading yet permit free passage of breaded product. Theblowoff housing 92 is mounted to straddle the conveyor side panels 60',with flanges 92e resting on the top of side panels 60', and with flangeskirts 92d outside their respective panel 60'. The curtain 96 then hangsbetween side panels 60' almost to conveyor belt 46. The top wall 92b hasan air manifold 91 attached thereto, with inlet end 91b facing the feedend of the breading unit and two drop tubes 91a passing through the topwall 92b. The clear surface of the top of the top wall 92b may be usedas a mounting surface for the removable air blower 98, which dischargesinto air inlet 91b. Into each drop tube 91a, which is open at thebottom, a blower tube is inserted. Each blower tube consists of avertical leg 93a or 94a, and two horizontal arms 93b or 94b. The bottomof each horizontal arm is drilled in a pattern of holes 101 to furnish anumber of jets of air directed substantially downward toward theproduct. Ends of horizontal arms are closed by plastic stoppers. Theprimary blowoff tube 94 enters one drop tube at 91c and the secondaryblowoff tube 93 enters the other drop tube at 91d. Both blowoff tubesare vertically adjustable for best effect. The shape of the blowofftubes, the size and number of holes, and the hole arrangement may beextensively varied, consistent with good performance in removingbreading, blower size and blower pressure. Blower pressure preferablyshould range from one-half to one and one-half PSIG, and air volume maybe as low as 15 SCFM. Excess air pressure or volume introducesconsiderable dustiness outside the machine volume.

Note in FIG. 23, the location 48g in the far hopper side wall 42a. Thisis the location used for the breading conveyor drive stub shaft 48e inthe embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, or FIG. 20 and 21. It is covered by aseal plate in the embodiment of FIGS. 23 and 24.

Note also in FIG. 23 the location 77f in both hopper side walls 42a.This is the location of the stub shaft 77e and drive pulley 77 of thetake-away conveyor used in the embodiment of FIG. 1 or FIG. 20. In theembodiment of FIG. 23, these locations are covered with seal plates notshown.

FIG. 26 shows a second possible configuration for the vertical conveyorsupport plate 60' on either side of the breading unit conveyor 46. It isquite similar to that shown at 60 in FIG. 4. The main exception beingthat the bottom edge of plate 60' in FIG. 26 is a straight line betweenthe areas 47a and 49a. This line matches the line of the bread hopperbottom wall 43. The plates 60' in FIG. 26 now become the side walls ofthe bread reserve volume 42, and also the side walls of pumping slot 50.FIG. 15 is substantially unchanged when the side panels of FIG. 26 areused in place of those from FIG. 4.

FIG. 33 serves to show how the product must flip from the batter sectionto the breading layer, and from the breading belt to the take-awayconveyor, all as in the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 34 serves to show how the product is gently transferred from thebatter section to the breading layer, and then flipped from the breadingbelt to the take-away conveyor as in the second embodiment of FIG. 20.FIG. 35 serves to show how the product is gently transferred from thebatter section to the breading layer, and then moves on a level pathuntil it leaves the machine, thus avoiding all flips, in the thirdembodiment as shown in FIG. 23.

The embodiment in FIG. 20 is 17 inches wide by 63 inches long by 19inches high and weighs 125 pounds. The embodiment of FIG. 23 is 17inches high by 63 inches long by 25 inches high and weighs 150 poundsdue to blower 98.

In addition to all of the above, there are numerous minor variationsthat can be made in the machine without changing its basic functions;coat with liquid, remove excess liquid, transfer to dry coating, drycoat, remove excess dry coating, transfer out of the machine. Severalare listed below.

The submerger wheel 23 may be removed, and simple guides installed inits place to hold the belt 20 below the liquid level 35. This may besuitable for a few products which do not float, but there is no positivewheel effect to completely submerge the product.

The splitter plow 63 may be removed with the view of shortening themachine, or to obtain further lowering of the batter coating section.Removal of the splitter results in more bottom layer of breading andless top layer for less positive top coating. Also, when the splitter isremoved, the trailing legs 63b no longer affect the top cover, so thatbread is no longer rolled over the top of the leading edge of theproduct by the side plows 65. Product will then tend to climb the slopeof breading plowed in by the side plows 65, thus further reducing topcover.

The bread return deflector 73 may be omitted, which will only result ina lower reserve volume in the breading hopper.

The tamper plate 66 could be removed, it could be weighted, or apressure roll could be substituted. The effect would be to vary thepacking of the breading onto and around the product when it is betweenthe side plow trailing legs 65a.

The configuration of side plows 65 might be considerably changed,without altering their function. A more complex shape defeats one of theparameters of the machine, which is low cost. The side plows may becompletely removed when only the bottom side of the product is to be drycoated.

The take-away conveyor location in FIG. 1 or FIG. 20 could be changedconsiderably without real effect except if it were raised to the levelof the breading belt, thus eliminating the flip. This arrangement wouldbe less satisfactory than that shown in FIG. 23.

What is claimed is:
 1. Means for coating a food product with a finelydivided particulate coating material comprising a frame, a conveyor beltmovably mounted in said frame and having an inlet end and a dischargeend, means for moving said belt, means for providing a flow of saidcoating material to said inlet end of said conveyor belt forming aproduct path centrally thereof, said last means comprising a coatingmaterial storage hopper in the lower portion of said frame havingparallel vertical side walls and having a bottom wall which is a flatplate inclined upwardly from a low point spaced below said discharge endto a point immediately below said inlet end and having one end wall atthe higher end of said bottom wall; an open mesh conveyor belt having alinear breading material elevating run in said hopper and travelingbetween said vertical side walls and close to said inclined bottom wall,said elevating run supported by a pulley equivalent at said low pointand by a downstream pulley equivalent near said higher end of saidbottom wall; said means also comprising a flat roof plate fixed in saidhopper parallel to said bottom wall and spaced thereabove atapproximately the level of the top of the breading material beingelevated by said conveyor belt, said roof terminating at approximatelysaid product-inlet end of said conveyor belt, said roof plate extendingbetween said vertical side walls and with said hopper bottom wallforming a slot which with said belt conveyor elevating run serves topump said breading material forward and upward through said inlet end ofsaid conveyor belt, means for splitting said flow and providing a bed ofsaid material of predetermined thickness on said product path, means forplacing a food product on said bed at a product input point near saidinlet end of said conveyor belt whereby said product is moved down saidpath by said belt, and discharged in a coated condition at the end ofsaid path.
 2. A machine for coating a food product with finely dividedparticulate coating material as defined in claim 1, in combination witha battering machine forming part of said means for placing a foodproduct on said bed and having a batter reservoir and an endlessconveyor for moving a food product through said reservoir, and said lastnamed conveyor having a food discharge point spaced directly above saidproduct-input point on said conveyor belt.
 3. A machine for coating afood product with finely divided particulate coating material as definedin claim 1, in combination with a battering machine forming part of saidmeans for placing a food product on said bed and having a batterreservoir and an endless conveyor for moving a food product through saidreservoir, and said last named conveyor having a food discharge pointsubstantially at the level of said inlet end of said first namedconveyor belt.